Pope Francis leaves Rome to land in Mexico and Cuba

Pope Francis today departed from Rome for his first trip as pontiff to Mexico until February 18, but first he will make a stopover in Havana where he will hold a historic meeting with Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia. The Pope departed from Rome's Fiumicino airport to Havana´s Jose Marti International Airport, in which he will meet the Head of the Russian Orthodox Church. This encounter will be the first held between the heads of the Catholic and Orthodox Churches.The Pope will board the Alitalia plane to land hours later in Mexico City, where he will be received by its president, Enrique Peña Nieto.